A lot of architects I know consider the Trump buildings to be the maximum expression of bad taste and nouveau riche architecture.

They probably right But nonetheless rich people want to buy a place in these ugly manifestations of richness. So in order to understand this you should separate good taste from the simple desire to live large. If someone give you this kind of place for free I am sure you will take it, live there and be happy to be part of this monstrosity.

__________________RIP QUANTUMX

"Dissent is the highest form of patriotism.” Thomas Jefferson
"We Shall Never Surrender." Winston Churchill
“Not all those who wander are lost.” J.R.R. Tolkien
"Patriotism is the virtue of the vicious." Oscar Wilde
"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." Benjamin Franklin

After George Will dubbed Donald Trump a “bloviating ignoramus,” the real estate mogul shot back by calling the columnist the “dumbest (and most overrated) political commentator of all time.”

ABC News’ Will on Sunday blasted Trump during an appearance on “This Week” as he questioned why Mitt Romney would host a fundraising event with someone who continues to give credibility to birtherism.

“I do not understand the cost benefit here,” Will said. “The costs are clear. The benefit — what voter is going to vote for him because he is seen with Donald Trump? The cost of appearing with this bloviating ignoramus is obvious, it seems to me. Donald Trump is redundant evidence that if your net worth is high enough, your IQ can be very low and you can still intrude into American politics.”

Trump jumped on Twitter to lash out against Will, writing that “George Will may be the dumbest(and most overrated) political commentator of all time. If the Republicans listen to him, they will lose.”

Trump's Jones Beach restaurant/catering facility project is now dead. Sandy essentially put in the final nail. The park is also badly damaged, along with this wall built around the former Trump site, with construction to have had begun in 2013.

This is the site next to the central mall where the original park restaurant stood--built 1936, burned 1964. Rebuilt '68, raised 2004.

Newsday photo

Damage to other parts of Jones Beach State Park. Most of boardwalk buckled and twisted. Concessions washed out, and all will not be repaired for several months.

photo: Joe Rao

Controversy over Trump on the Ocean mainly due to his obtaining a permit to build a basement, originally intended to house kitchens and offices. The Town reduced the plan to storage only, as to maximum possible building code.

This was the flooding at the JB Theater, on the bay side several hundred feet onshore from the planned Trump property. Imagine what it would have done to his restaurant...the excavated basement still filled with several feet of sea water at present.